Man, 52, killed in car crash

A 52-year-old man was killed when a car he was driving hit a dump truck that had stopped to turn left to a construction project on the shoulder of Monsignor Guerrero Road near the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s power station in Chalan Kiya on Saturday night.

The fatality was identified as Felix Palacios, 52, an employee of Triple J. Enterprises, according to Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services spokesman Derek Gersonde.

Gersonde told Saipan Tribune last night that Palacios was not wearing a seatbelt and that DFEMS rescuers had to use special equipment (Jaws of Life) to extricate him from inside the wrecked vehicle.

It is not clear yet whether other persons were injured in the accident.

Gersonde said DFEMS received a call from the Department of Public Safety dispatch 911 at 6:55pm about a car collision in Chalan Kiya.

Gersonde said that Palacios was driving his vehicle toward As Terlaje, coming from the San Jose area.

A dump truck had stopped on the inner lane and signaled to turn left toward the construction project. Palacios’ vehicle rear-ended the dump truck.

When DFEMS emergency medical technicians arrived at the scene, they observed a vehicle, which sustained damage to the windshield and engine compartment, causing Palacios to be pinned under the dashboard.

EMTs assessment at the scene was that Palacios had no pulse and not breathing.

Cardio pulmonary resuscitation was performed on the victim while he was being transported to the Commonwealth Health Center’s emergency section.

A CHC doctor pronounced Palacios dead at 7:17pm.

Saipan Tribune observed that Palacios’ vehicle was totally wrecked by the impact.

The accident snarled traffic in the area.

The DPS information office, as of press time yesterday, had not responded to calls and text messages, requesting for details about the incident. Palacios is the first fatality of a car accident in the CNMI this year.

Saipan Tribune is still trying to verify unconfirmed information that a Chinese woman, who was hit last month along Chalan Pale Arnold in Gualo Rai, had passed away due to her injuries.

Last December, two persons died and three others were injured during a vehicular accident on Chalan Pale Arnold Road in As Mahetog.

Police said that speed and alcohol were factors in that crash.

DPS stated there had been 1,730 vehicular crashes in the CNMI in 2016 and 62 of them were alcohol-related, resulting in one traffic fatality. The As Mahetog incident was not included in that statistic.